The present invention relates to a disposable CO.sub.2 gas generator which utilizes chemical reactants to generate the CO.sub.2 gas. Conventional CO.sub.2 gas cylinders are heavy, relatively expensive and available only as returnable, refillable packages. Since such cylinders are under very high pressure, handling requires appropriate care.
With the trend toward mini-sized and home-dispensers for soft-drinks, where the syrup-packaging is generally one-way, it is logistically attractive to make one-way CO.sub.2 -packaging also available. Moreover, certain conventional distribution channels, such as super-market stores, could only be effectively exploited if one-way packaging were available. An additional factor is that lay dispenser-users are understandably nervous of handling high-pressure gas cylinders. High-pressure CO.sub.2 -capsules, generally containing about 8 g CO.sub.2, are already available, but these are expensive and restricted in practical capacity to a limit of around 16-20 g. They do not, therefore, represent a solution, since such quantities are barely sufficient for carbonating 2 liters of beverage without reckoning the considerable additional CO.sub.2 quantities needed for propulsion of the beverage in the dispenser.
Inexpensive, light-weight, unpressurized or moderately pressurized CO.sub.2 -packaging can therefore provide a whole scope of new business opportunities with respect to small-sized dispensers designed for non-professional users.